The Commission discharges its mandate independently, separately from other government authorities, municipalities, officials and public officers.

In order to perform its functions the Commission is entitled to enable the involvement of public authorities at all levels into the implementation of this extremely important state activity.

The Commission performs its duties on the principles of legality, independence, objectivity, competence, professionalism, collegial decision-making, reliability, openness and transparency.

The presidential submission on the CEC members shall take into account the nominee proposals of current parliamentary factions and groups.

The first election commission in Ukraine was created in 1917 as an Electoral Bureau of the General Secretary of Internal Affairs and was headed by Mykhailo Kovenko.

In 1989 the modern election commission was created under the Cabinet of Ukraine, which in 1997 became an independent body of the Ukrainian government.

This appointment was an integral part of the legislative package to resolve the presidential election crisis in Ukraine.